Largest APS Prize Targets Young Physicists

George E. Valley, Jr

The George E. Valley, Jr. Prize is given biennially by the APS to recognize the achievements and the potential of a physicist within five years of his or her PhD. Named in honor of a generous bequest from the estate of George E. Valley, Jr., the prize carries with it a cash award of $20,000, making it the largest single prize that the Society gives.

The prize will be given for the third time this year. Nominations are currently being sought for outstanding candidates in any field of physics, with a nomination deadline of July 1, 2006. This year's recipient will be announced in the fall after the selection committee's recommendation is approved by the APS Executive Board.

The selection committee consists of the President and two immediate past-Presidents of the APS, the previous recipient of the Prize, and a chairperson to be elected by the APS Council. A sixth, non-voting, member of the committee is George C. Valley, son of George E. Valley, Jr. and, like his father, a physicist. Further details on rules of eligibility and nomination procedures may be found on the APS web site at http://www.aps.org/programs/honors/prizes/valley.cfm.

The two previous recipients of the prize were David Goldhaber-Gordon, currently at Stanford University, "for the discovery and elucidation of the physics of the Kondo Effect in Single Electron Transistors" and Ivo Souza, at UC Berkeley, "for fundamental advances in the theory of polarization, localization and electric fields in crystalline insulators".

George E. Valley, Jr. received his PhD in physics from the University of Rochester in 1939. He was named a National Research Fellow in nuclear physics in 1940 and was Project Supervisor and senior staff member of the Radiation Laboratory at MIT from 1941 to 1945. He was on the faculty at MIT from 1946 to 1974, was one of the founders of MIT Lincoln Laboratory, and was Chief Scientist of the Air Force in 1957-58.